Chapter 112: The Embodiment

In the future formal establishment and expansion of the Wizard organization, this opposition will become increasingly clear. Personal feelings will be futile in such a torrent; position will determine everything.

Late at night, in the relief home, Ollie was covered by a thin blanket, fast asleep on a straw mat, hugging Arno’s arm. She was suddenly awakened by a prompt from her Grimoire.

Arno and Ollie opened their eyes and saw the weathered knight, Ancestar.

Arno was about to shout, but Ancestar covered his mouth firmly with his large hand. Arno could only make whimpering sounds.

Following Ancestar’s silent gesture, the three quietly slipped out of the relief home.

“Melancholy Uncle, are you trying to choke me?” Arno said in a low voice after they left the relief home.

“I simply don’t trust you, my foolish apprentice. If you had yelled just now, you would have woken everyone in the relief home, wouldn’t you?” Ancestar said irritably.

The three gathered to discuss the message sent by the Grimoire.

“You must be exceptionally cautious. Neither of you has exchanged for the Lesser Spell Lesser Mana Fluctuation Concealment. You must exchange for it immediately. Especially Arno, you need to learn it quickly, or you are highly likely to lose your life in the current environment.”

Meanwhile, Ace, under the cover of night, charmed a portion of the soldiers and officers patrolling near the hospital. After detailed questioning, he learned that the defense sector was managed by Dikens Rona, who had been sent from the Royal City under penalty.

Dikens had been dispatched by the Royal Family to assist in the investigation of the Devil worshipers, but the legion had not assigned him to pursue the Devil worshipers. He was assigned to duty in this area. Ace heard that he inspected the hospital several times daily.

“Based on the current situation, I should not have been discovered, and Daina hasn’t either. This is a small mercy in a great misfortune.”

“But I cannot let down my guard. I must confirm whether the underground magic laboratory has been discovered. If it hasn’t, it is still not advisable for me to appear hastily. Since everyone believes I am out practicing medicine, I should simply reappear in the Northern City-States a few years from now.”

Subsequently, Ace transformed into an average-looking resident physician and naturally entered the hospital.

After a thorough inspection, Ace confirmed that the warning rune array he had placed was not triggered. He then entered the underground magic laboratory through the secret passage behind the hospital, riding the mechanical magic lift.

On Sub-Level 1, the Grimoire Control Layer, the massive crystal sphere covered with rune arrays was displayed. The entire level had a thin layer of dust. Ace carefully sensed it. After confirming there were no issues, he used the “Fresh and Clean” spell to clean the entire layer.

He repeated the process, inspecting and cleaning the other levels, and then returned to Sub-Level 1.

The core Grimoire replica Ace had made was positioned directly in front of the glass sphere.

He placed his hand on the core Grimoire replica. A series of images flashed before his eyes: Heroes’ night raids, the mass slaughter of contractors, and the self-destruction of many Grimoires.

The faces of the victims showed shock, anger, regret, remorse, and sorrow, one after another.

Ace remained silent for a moment. After a while, he spoke in a calm tone: “The Wizard organization was in its infancy, and the Divine Descendants already sought to establish a blood feud with us. The fact is clear: this is a war, an endless war to the death.”

He first entered Sub-Level 3, which housed the many low-level Monsters sacrificed by the apprentices. The central altar was piled with large amounts of Monster material.

Ace used the Burning Hand to clear away the decomposed materials. After organizing the remaining materials, he began preparing the necessary sacrifice materials for the Projection Ritual.

His experience in the Larr Mountains had given him new ideas for the Mirror Image Ritual. He took out a portion of purified, uncorrupted soul powder from the Monster stomach pouch, preparing to add it to the sacrifice material.

This powerful low-level Monster soul powder should be of higher quality than the undecayed spiritual essence of an ordinary low-level Monster. Using it to form the mirror image’s pseudo-spirit body should make the mirror image’s mental power stronger.

Ace also had new ideas about the material composing the mirror image’s body. The remaining casting material from the blessing ritual could be used. These materials, which significantly reinforce Strength, Agility, and Constitution, should make the new mirror image’s physical attributes stronger.

After organizing the sacrifice materials, Ace entered the Projection Chamber on Sub-Level 2. Looking at the Magic Array composed of dense runes and magical patterns, he did not immediately proceed with the Mirror Image Ritual. Instead, he made more detailed modifications to the four Magic Arrays, especially the Covenant Magic Array.

“Ultimately, a collective life composed of a host and mirror images that cannot achieve constant mental synchronization is merely a pseudo-collective life. A true collective life should be able to synchronize constantly. Although each individual possesses individuality, the commonalities should be perpetually synchronized.”

“Therefore, since constant synchronization is impossible, I must establish more constraints and backdoors within the covenant and the overall ritual.”

After making preparations, Ace channeled Mana into the Magic Array.

Accompanied by the patterns on the Magic Array lighting up one by one and the runes flashing, Ace began performing the rites, following the pulse of Mana.

As the Mana in the entire Projection Chamber slowly gathered, a massive, translucent scale rose from the Covenant Magic Array.

He used a knife to cut his wrist. Blood, imbued with his Inherent Mana, streamed out. It flowed along the magical patterns, soaking into the Projection Magic Array.

He recited the covenant chant to the scale, using a strange cadence and pronunciation.

An invisible whispering appeared. A faint scent of sulfur drifted in and out. Red light flashed across Ace’s eyes. The whispering agitated his emotions, making him manic and irritable.

The scale transformed into a scythe. His physical body collapsed onto the host Magic Array. His soul essence floated out. The scythe, wielding the power of fundamental rules, sliced across it. A wound appeared on Ace’s spirit essence, and a blood-like substance flowed out.

Ace did not stop. His soul muttered to itself. He extracted a portion of emotion from the spirit essence and poured it along with the soul blood into the fluid.

The soul blood then transformed into a small figure, standing in the Projection Magic Array. Ace’s blood surfaced from the Magic Array. The sacrifice materials atomized and were devoured by the small figure along with the blood.

Ace’s soul returned to his body. He looked weakly at the small figure, which slowly swelled into a sphere of flesh, and finally stepped out as a naked man identical to Ace.

The host body Ace looked at the new mirror image, touching his slightly aching stomach.

“I did not have the wound reflected on my body this time. Is it because the strength of my soul has greatly increased due to the blessing ritual?”

In his mental perception, the wound on the spirit essence had not yet healed, but it was no longer bleeding fluid.

The host body Ace ignored the mirror image and immediately began to meditate.

With the activation of the Advanced Wizard Apprentice Meditation Spell Model, the surrounding Mana slowly pulsed around Ace, repairing the wound on his soul.

After a long while, Ace felt his entire mental power become full. Only the wound on his soul had yet to fully recover and would require some more time to gradually heal.

He looked at the mirror image before him. They synchronized. Without speaking, he instantly perceived the mirror image’s thoughts and could correct them to some extent.

This mirror image was unique. Besides establishing the backdoors, Ace had deliberately entrusted a portion of his own emotions to the mirror image. This temporarily bypassed the influence of the whispering.

When the mirror image returns to the host, the emotions will also return. When Ace can solve the problem of the strange whispering, he will take back his emotions.

Now, he was Ace, the tenacious Torch-Bearer. He would use the most resolute will to lead the widely disparate war between Wizards and Divine Descendants.